活动通知：Insights of UX (User EXperience)

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Event Details
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What: Insights of UX (User EXperience)
When: Wed, July 18th, 2012 6:00pm -- 9:00pm
Where: Bellevue City Hall
Event style: Talks, Q&A and interactive discussion
Admission: Registration required
RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/Sea-Tech-Forum/events/36852582/
Parking: Free (but limited)
Food: Light snacks/drink provided at hallway (no food/drink allowed in the conference room)
Gifts: Swags from our sponsors are available, including major door prize(s)

We are expecting 130+ people from local companies, organizations and start-ups, not necessarily technical people, but also marketing professionals, PM, recruiters, investors...

Besides the senior speakers, there may be 30+ VIP guests from Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Boeing, Facebook, Zynga, Ebay, Intel, IBM, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, HTC, Hulu, Oracle, SAP, CA, UW, EMC, Expedia, Zillow, SEOmoz, Bungie, Nintendo, Nordstrom, Alaska Airlines, Dice, Salesforce, SGI, VMWare, Citrix...

Come on time and print out the confirmation page to guarantee a seat.

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Tentative Event Agenda, Speakers and Topics
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6:00pm - 6:50pm, Snack & social (come early and meet interesting tech guru and investors, besides food)

6:50pm - 7:00pm, Introduction

7:00pm - 7:25pm, Talk
A Designer, an Engineer, and a PM walk into a Zombie Apocalypse...
Speaker: Matt Terich, UX Designer, Google
Abstract: In which we examine relationships between designers, engineers, and product managers, explore common failings in the product design process, examine some ideas to solve them, all to help survive the Zombie Apocalypse together.
Bio: Matt Terich is a UX Designer, programmer, and musician based in Seattle, WA. He has worked in the Seattle tech scene, mostly for startups, for 12 years. He has an awesome dog.

7:25pm - 7:50pm, Talk
Impact of User Experience on Your Business
Speaker:  Justin Lowe, Founder and Managing Partner of User Research International
Abstract: Do you know what your customers think of your products?  Are people who aren’t familiar with your solution able to use it in an effective way? Are your customers happy with the overall user experiences?  And, more importantly, are you in a knowledgeable position to build the right products and solutions.  Justin Lowe, founder of User Research International, give an overview of current market and usability trends so you can avoid pitfalls of many of the products and solutions that miss the “usability” mark.  Justin, a 15 year usability expert, will give an overview of today’s high-tech landscape and offer tips on how to ensure, with limited resources, you are getting the most impactful customer input through both in-person usability studies and broad, global online market research studies.
Bio: Prior to founding User Research International in 2005, Justin was a Research Lead at Microsoft where he was responsible for creating and implementing the user research strategy for products in Microsoft Dynamics Business Solutions including their mobile and international research strategies.  He is currently a Managing Partner at User Research International, one of the leading user research consultancies in the technical product space, helping to define the user experience for Windows Server, Azure, System Center and Visual Studio.  Justin began his journey into UX studying Art in his native England.  After completing a degree in Industrial Design and Technology and a Masters in Ergonomics he made the transition to software usability, eventually making his way to the sunny Northwest via Microsoft.  Justin has a passion for new technology and in particular trends in mobile and cloud computing and their effect on the user experience for technical IT and Developer users.

7:50pm - 8:15pm, Talk
The Art of Online Conversion
Speaker:  Charlie Claxton,VP of Creative Strategy, Produxs
Abstract: Great design leads to great outcomes: your target audience doing exactly what you wanted them to do, your products or services shown in the best, most irresistible light, with just the information a potential customer wants; a shopping and checkout setup that is easy and convenient – leading to more sales. Your specific goals may vary, but for most of us who are designing web sites, either directly or indirectly, the overarching goal is to “convert” site visitors into customers. But how do you get to that just-right design? The one that target users respond to intuitively? Unfortunately, there isn’t a cut-and-dried recipe to follow that results in bang-up conversion rates. There are however, design paradigms and insights we can apply to each situation to drive conversion – how people think, design elements that have a history of increasing conversion, etc. – and we’ll talk about them in this seminar.
Bio: Charlie has extensive experience defining, designing and delivering interactive experiences for end-user consumer products and corporate audiences. His keen understanding of user-centered design methodologies and his ability to take an idea from conception to fruition has brought many opportunities to lead successful design efforts for companies such as Expedia, Amazon, Boeing,
Qualcomm, Kodak and Microsoft. Charlie holds a Masters of Science in Technical Communication from the University of Washington School of Engineering and a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism.

8:15pm - 8:40pm, Talk
The Evolution of UX Testing
Speaker:  Jeff Huisman, SR. QA Manager, Samsung Telecommunications America
Abstract: The presentation will be about the need for companies to evolve their methods when it comes to UX test and analysis. I will also touch on large scale failures of ideas that were great on paper, but failed in the transition from paper to product.  Products such as the HP TouchPad and Microsoft Kin failed for multiple reasons, but in the end a lot of that came down to the design and user experience.  The main point will be as I first stated, companies need to evolve their methods to ensure the best type of user experience. This includes the need for hands-on UX test from the very first implementation and during the design phase itself.
Bio: I have been in the testing field for nearly 15 years, most of which I have spent hands on working with various mobile devices and technologies.  I came on at Samsung in December of 2011 to help bring process and order to the new R&D lab here in Bellevue.  I am an avid fan and follower of mobile technology and have a passion for quality and delivering the best product to the end user.

8:40pm - 9:00pm, Q&A to all speakers, and interactive free discussion
9:00pm, Door prize draw

9:00pm - 9:30pm, Social

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Intro of Sea-Tech Forum
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Seattle Technical Forum is a loosely coupled Seattle-wide discussion forum for technology (esp. clo, web, mobile, game, telecom ...). The forum is a platform for professionals to:
· Collaborate with other professionals
· Share ideas
· Foster creative brainstorming
· Promote your company, products, and technical events
Its members cover all major IT companies in the Seattle area and many start-ups and organizations.
Its event announcement reaches about 20,000 IT people.

Please join our discussion group at: http://groups.google.com/group/seattle-tech-forum & meetup at: http://www.meetup.com/Sea-Tech-Forum/ for event updates and, of course, lively discussion.
We also allow members to pre-register for events with a lowered registration fee.

Also feel free to join our Facebook group and Linkedin group too:
  fb: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_161613450548153
  linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/e/g1vxqt-ghfjupxt-h/vgh/3710277/

We are actively seeking new sponsors and speakers...

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Intro of SELA Software
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SELA Software is dedicated to build the strongest and most sought after software developers in the Pacific Northwest.  To ensure SELA developers are highly proficient and integrate quickly into professional development teams, SELA provides their staff with technical training and on-going mentoring from Experts.  As a result, SELA staff are highly skilled and knowledgeable with deep technical resources they draw upon while working onsite within your team.